5x05 - Acts of Contrition
I apologize in advance for anything I might've missed. I watched this episode in three chunks basically so it might show. And I'm not going to be touching on the case, if I can help it. Mainly because it's a very complicated issue and I don't feel like this post is the right place for a discussion on truth and justice.
First up, Criminal Intent does SVU. These two moments highlight really well why I just love Goren. He is so damn self-aware when it comes to his size and the impact he can have on already traumatized women. In the first gif, he stays back and makes himself just so, so small, tries to make himself as unthreatening as possible. That scene always makes me foam at the mouth a bit because how often is it that you have abused/trafficked/raped women and the male detectives are right there, basically in the face of the victim, which most likely has heavy trauma and men are just hard to even be near in any capacity. And I don't know who set this scene in that way, but whoever it was, definitely did their homework and I'd like to congratulate them. And it also highlights how in Criminal Intent, it's in the details. And in the second gif, he takes in what's going on and pulls back. His Spanish is seemingly not that good but he tries to tell the girls it's going to be alright nevertheless. And he doesn't block the doorway waiting for the female officer to pick up the girls. He does not charge in, needing to feel like a hero, he considers the victim(s) first.
I don't know, I just like this scene. It always shows me that he could be very dangerous, if he'd wanted to.
A callback to a season 1 episode. 1x04 - The Faithful to be exact where we learn that he's the lapsed altar boy. And she has a question and he readily answers it. Before saying that it probably doesn't have a deeper meaning. And he doesn't answer it offhandedly, he focuses on her and takes the time to explain. What have I said about the little things?
Eddie Roberts: Eddie Roberts is happily single. It's the only way to get things done. Alex Eames: Alex Eames says he's a big phony.
Robert Goren doesn't even have to say anything, Alex Eames is already calling bullshit on what the guy told them. No wonder she started snooping in his computer. She can always tell when things are off about people and she doesn't like it.
But it gives us this moment of him absolutely invading her personal space again and her not even reacting in the slightest. And I personally love me a good moment of them invading each other's personal space.
I needed to look up what a "phlebotomist" is. Turns out there is a reason why I don't know. It's a dedicated thing in the US apparently. Someone who draws blood. Where I'm from, every nurse and doctor can draw blood. Some better than others, and nurses much better than the doctors usually, but generally they all can do it, it's part of their training. When doctors need bloodwork done, they draw the blood in the practice and then send it off to a lab, if they don't have a lab themselves.
But that's not what I actually wanted to talk about in this scene. I wanted to point out how disenchanted they seem to become with all those other cops who don't take their job seriously. Or even seem qualified to do it. It's one of the things that's a common thread throughout their whole run, them being annoyed with other cops that are incompetent or ineffective, and absolutely pissed at officers abusing their power or status for nefarious purposes.
Goren: Can I get a copy of this? Sister: I'll have to charge you a nickel. Goren: No problem.
And he immediately digs for that nickel. So happy for some reason. (Was that line possibly improvised?) I just like that precious boy being happy for the smallest reason seeing as we're nearing all the bad stuff.
Goren: It's not just my judgement. Sister Dorothy, she also thought that Sister Olivia's works were worth defending.
This is before he knows that things are far more complicated between all these people than he thinks. And he sees the things Sister Olivia has done since becoming a nun and how she tries to atone. They know who did the murder. But this old crime is going to be ripping open things. And as things stood at that time, it would be painful for everyone involved. And maybe they don't need to dredge up Sister Olivia's past to convict their murderer. Maybe he'll come quietly when they make him a deal. And Eames sees his dilemma but can't do much. It seems to pain her that she can't help him and can just be there. This whole scene with Carver, Goren constantly glanced at Eames, almost like he was repeatedly making sure she was still with him and grounding himself. So he doesn't repeat what happened in the past when he tried to wiggle in the constraints of the system they worked in.
Goren: You take good care of him. Eddie Roberts: He always liked looking sharp.
I think Goren sincerely means what he says. He knows what it's like to take care of a family member and what toll it can take. That it leads to a much darker truth is just a coincidence.
Goren: He was going on a date?
And we do get a very nice stylistic element for things I'd like to point out. This is the moment Goren realizes things might be much more complicated than they lie now and the connections between these people are much closer. And he is emerging from the dark and steps into the light as he figures out the implications and gets enlightened. Sometimes they just nail these stylistic parallels between what's said in the text and the environment. I love these moments.